Car Opinions

Opinion: Australia's motoring industry isn't dying

There’s evidence to suggest that our motoring industry is showing signs of resurgence

Opinion Australian motoring industry

Opinion Mark Skaife Supercars Gen3

Opinion: The 2020s must be the time for sensible climate action

Old and new Defender

Vic High Country water crossing

Ash Westerman on new cars

You may well have seen figures showing that electric vehicles are now more popular than cars with manual gearboxes, in the US at least. Here things are often a bit different but, in five months of 2019, the Tesla Model 3 sold more than 3500 units. That’s more than the combined manual registrations for Ford Mustang, BMW 2 Series, Toyota 86, Mazda MX-5, Chevrolet Camaro and Porsche 911 for the same period– ie, the very cars you might well buy equipped with three pedals and a stick. To make matters worse for those who like to change gear themselves, in a reversal of common practice, BMW has announced that the base price for its sports coupes would be for the automatic model, with its low-volume manuals being cost-plus options on cars like the M2, M3 and M4. So things are certainly looking grim for the manual, and have for some time. Mercedes doesn’t offer a manual model. Now that the base Giulietta has been shuffled out to pasture, we get no manual Alfas. Roll that thought round in your head for a while. There haven’t been manual Ferraris or Lamborghinis for years. The gated metal gearchange that was for so long an icon of the Italian supercar somewhat ironically hit the evolutionary buffers with the Audi R8 in mid-2018. A whole generation of drivers are going to miss that deliberate clack through the H-pattern. They’ll never know the tactile delight of a heel-and-toe downshift in a Honda S2000, the one-pause-two cadence of a Viper’s box, the liquid metal feel of second to third in an E30 M3, or the full-arm pool-ball break of a C6 Vette’s Tremec, surely Mexico’s finest export after the three-bean burrito. Porsche tried to kill off the three-pedal 911 GT3 back in 2013 when it launched the 991 generation without a manual option. The 911 model chief August Achleitner underestimated the depth of feeling among purists when he breezily claimed: “When we launched the 911 Turbo S, we did not offer a manual, but we have not had a single complaint.” The gripes certainly came thick and fast with the PDK-only 991 GT3 and kept coming until a dramatic corporate U-turn with the manual 991.2 GT3 in 2017. That sort of response is rare. Once manuals are gone, they tend to stay gone. That’s largely due to the fact that as soon as the human is taken out of the loop, the transmission can be relied on to do some quite clever things. Eight-, nine- or 10-gear ratios, which would clearly be impossible to marshal by hand, can deliver the sort of torque response and economy we once thought the preserve of the ‘efficient manual’. Those gains are hard for a manufacturer to concede. If General Motors can write off entire right-hand-drive markets as marginal, you can be sure that car makers can forgo tooling up for a transmission that might make up two percent of their sales figures. It will be interesting to see the sales numbers of the Hyundai i30 N, previously only offered as manual, when its twin-clutch ’box arrives within a year. I love a good auto but have come to believe I’d miss the manual. It rankles if I ever see an MX-5, an 86 or a Mustang furnished with a mere pair of pedals. That’s because the car can be a toy, something that we buy purely for joy and tactility. A road car doesn’t need to chase lap times and it doesn’t always have to be the acme of efficiency. When car makers are looking to shave costs and lower group emissions numbers, the manual is an easy casualty but the way to save it is simple: Put your money where your mouth is.

How do we deal with 4x4ers who give us all a bad name?

By Kalen Ziflian23 Nov 2020

Sometimes a group of 4x4ers will destroy the good reputation of the majority, so do we chastise or reach out?

Robbo Jr: Simon Robinson's adventures with his father

By Simon Robinson19 Nov 2020

Son of Wheels veteran Peter Robinson, Simon, spins a yarn about his dad

Vote now for the Custom 4X4 of the Year for a chance to win

By Matt Raudonikis13 Nov 2020

New vehicles are compromised, which is why so many people turn to the aftermarket.

Signs of the times as former Holden dealers shed the Lion

By Tim Robson05 Nov 2020

Our oldest car brand is going out with a whimper, not a bang, as dealers pull down Holden signs

Should you sign up to a 4WD club?

By Kalen Ziflian28 Oct 2020

Belonging to a 4WD club brings with it myriad benefits. Club 4x4 Insurance’s Kalen Ziflian lists the reasons why you should sign up.

Farewell from Wheels editor Alex Inwood

By Alex Inwood25 Oct 2020

There is change at the top for Wheels, with Alex Inwood stepping down from the editor role

Be careful what you wish for in the comments section

By Daniel Gardner23 Oct 2020

Some people think they can solve the motoring problems of the world with a click of a mouse

Australia is the world’s EV laughing stock

By Daniel Gardner22 Oct 2020

Australia still indulges in embarrassing fossil fuel addiction while the rest of the world joins the e-volution

Why Amazon’s order for 100,000 Rivian electric vans is a big deal

By Tim Robson12 Oct 2020

Can the new darling of the EV movement pull off this $9b deal? We reckon it just might… and here’s why

Mitsubishi Australia’s great sports cars

By Chris Thompson08 Oct 2020

Mitsubishi Australia has offered plenty of fast and fun metal over its 40 years

Where's the originality in the design of new 4x4s?

By Matt Raudonikis23 Sep 2020

Matt is disappointed with the lack of originality from bespoke 4x4 manufacturers.

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